A little reality among the haze.

As a whole, I don't appreciate advertising.  The main goal is to trick us into perpetual dissatisfaction when the joy of the LORD should be our strength.  But there is a new ad that I like.  It's the mastercard ad about the hand carved toy.  "Watching her have more fun with the empty box than the toy - priceless."  That's a Christmas message we missed somewhere, I think.  Though every mother's heart has melted over that very spot.  I'm not really suggesting that we give all the kids a giant empty box for Christmas, but maybe it's a start at rethinking where we've come to in this celebration of the birth of Christ.
Last night I was watching another sappy holiday movie on the Hallmark chanel.  There are only about 3 themes in the huge array of movies, but there is one common theme among them: lonely troubled people finding renewed purpose and acceptance among other lonely troubled people.  As much as I chide, last night I was blessed by a verse I know well. 'The Lord sets the solitary in families.'  That is the basic concept isn't it.  For all our doing and getting and running and fussing, there is a little bit of wonder and magic to the way our lives are woven while we live them.
Yesterday, a few friends joined me to surprise my beloved with a celebration of his 61 years of living.  I was flustered by my lack of ability and unreadiness though I worked very hard to make it so.  In the end, the not quite polished, not quite finished, not quite decorated state of my home didn't really matter.  What mattered was the love that we shared during that span of time while we joked and ate and yelled a quick 'Happy Birthday' while he walked in.  What mattered was the belonging we felt when we hugged each other goodbye and knew that it was a temporary thing - regardless of what comes next in our lives.  Impressing them wasn't really as important as that hug.
Priceless.